In testimony, anatomy of a homicide

WHITE PLAINS — John "Tarzan" Maldonado spent his final hours in what he must have thought was a safe place.

Doyle Murphy

WHITE PLAINS — John "Tarzan" Maldonado spent his final hours in what he must have thought was a safe place.

An FBI video camera recorded him standing, a drink in hand, on the corner of William Street and Benkard Avenue as it grew dark on March 12, 2010. Even then, Luis "King Luch" Tambito testified on Wednesday, the Latin Kings were laying plans to kill him.

A 20-year-old named Jerome "Rude Boy" Scarlett had died in a shooting the night before. A memorial of lit candles shined in the video as the Kings wandered in and out of the frame.

Tambito testified Scarlett and Maldonado both hoped to become full gang members and that he had selected them to shoot rival Bloods on Lander Street. Maldonado came back. Scarlett didn't. The Kings were unhappy, and rumors soon circulated that it was Maldonado who shot Scarlett. Tambito said they were convinced when a friendly Blood told them none of the Bloods had shot back.

"We had heard rumors that Tarzan was infiltrating our gang — that he was working with the Bloods and that's why he killed Rude Boy," Tambito said.

Tambito was once the gang's Third Crown, a position responsible for coordinating attacks on rivals and punishing Kings who broke gang rules. He admitted to murders, stabbings, beatings and shootings as part of a plea agreement. On Wednesday, he testified in federal court in the case of four defendants — Nelson "King Murder" Calderon, Angelo "King Truth" DeLeon, Eva Cardoza and Wilfredo "Frito" Sanchez — who face gun and narcotics conspiracy charges.

Defense attorneys said Tambito is a lifelong thug who chose violence and self-preservation virtually every time he had an opportunity to do right. By his own admission, Tambito orchestrated Maldonado's murder and then watched the dying 21-year-old twitch and mumble, eventually heading up the block to buy a couple of beers. He could have faced death penalty-eligible charges but agreed to cooperate with the government.

"You went out and tried to kill people who were snitches, is that right?" asked attorney Charles Hochbaum, who is representing Cardoza.

"Yes," Tambito replied.

"I guess that's what should happen to you, right?" Hochbaum said.

Tambito implicated Cardoza in the plot to kill Maldonado. He and another gang leader arranged for Cardoza's boyfriend, Steven "King Scoobz" Lewis, to serve as the getaway driver, but it was Cardoza in the driver's seat, Tambito said.

Gang leaders had spent most of the day organizing the plan, often just out of earshot of Maldonado. Two Kings would walk with Maldonado down Benkard, where a third would pop out from behind a hedge and open fire.

On Wednesday, jurors watched the video as Maldonado and two young men left the corner of William and Benkard, stepping past the glow of the candle-lit memorial and out of the frame into the dark.